Educating Young Koreans Spiritually, Morally and Religiously for the 21st Century: The Role of Christian Religious Education

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Christian Religious Education has traditionally given young people access to their religious heritage. While this important role has never been in question, there is a new, additional challenge for Christian religious educators to address. The widespread secularisation of contemporary society, and the extensive changes in culture, especially in digital communication, entertainment and marketing, have altered the ways in which people construct meaning, purpose and value in life – often with little reference to religion. Christian Religious Education is well placed to help educate young people to be more discerning about the shaping influence that contemporary culture can have on people’s thinking, behaviour and values. It can help them acquire knowledge and skills that will enable them to better negotiate a meaningful life in a challenging and complex culture. This can promote their spiritual and moral development. The starting point for a relevant religious education for the 21st century requires of religious educators some understanding of the complexity of contemporary globalised culture, particularly in the way it impacts on the personal development of young people. This paper will signpost some of this complexity and it will propose how issue-related content and a critical, research-oriented pedagogy may help educate young people towards addressing the challenges they face in constructing a meaningful life today. It is proposed that a critical, evaluative pedagogy is important not only for social issues, cultural analysis and personal development, but also for theological, scriptural and world religions content. An inquiring, issue-raising approach to Christian religious education has a long established tradition. But the current spiritual situation in Korean culture suggests that it may need to be become more prominent.

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